Entries by theresa_terrible

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/04/runaway_costs_on_rail_t http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/04/12/report-mbta-spending-out-of-control-on-employee-pay/ http://www.myfoxboston.com/story/21951093/2013/04/12/report-mbta-salaries-far-above-other-state-agencies The state’s taxpayer-funded commuter rail service is lavishing extravagant raises, “signing” bonuses and other plum perks on its engineers and conductors, according to a scathing new report that also slams the debt-ridden MBTA for its own “excessive” labor costs that far outpace other state agencies. The report — compiled by the Pioneer […]

Jamie Gass, Pioneer Institute’s Director of School Reform, discusses problems with the Common Core national education standards, including their weaker academic quality, illegality, and significant costs.

Dr. Sandra Stotsky, Professor Emerita, University of Arkansas, former Senior Associate Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Education, describes some of the problems with the quality of the Common Core national education standards.

Meeting the Challenge of the FY10 Budget Author(s): Jim Stergios and Steve Poftak — Publication date: 2009-06-11 Category: Better Government Abstract: It took one day for the House of Representatives to raise the sales tax 25 percent. It took just one day for the Senate to do the same. [wpdm_package id=62]

http://www.salon.com/2011/12/31/beware_of_mitt_say_bay_state_conservatives/singleton/ Mitt Romney’s Iowa surge coincides with a new Iowa TV spot in which he touts himself as a genuinely conservative businessman who will shrink and streamline the federal government. But some Massachusetts tax watchdogs and small government advocates who remember Romney’s days in the governor’s chair say: Iowa buyer beware. They note that Romney […]

http://www.wickedlocal.com/westwood/features/x1157706591/Westwood-residents-get-around-2K-if-House-GOP-OKs-payroll-tax-cut?zc_p=2#axzz2OHGE6ymJ Bay State workers have reaped thousands of dollars in savings from a one-year cut to a federal payroll tax whose expiration looms Dec. 31. Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress have agreed broadly on extending the temporary cut to the Social Security tax withheld from workers’ paychecks, but they disagree on how to pay […]

http://www.wickedlocal.com/medfield/news/x1157706593/Medfield-residents-get-around-2K-if-House-GOP-OKs-payroll-tax-cut?zc_p=2#axzz2OHGE6ymJ Medfield residents have reaped thousands of dollars in savings from a one-year cut to a federal payroll tax whose expiration looms Dec. 31. Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress have agreed broadly on extending the temporary cut to the Social Security tax withheld from workers’ paychecks, but they disagree on how to pay for […]

Jason Bedrick provides a brief overview of his new research, commissioned by Pioneer Institute, “And You Shall Teach them Diligently: The History and Status of Jewish Day Schools in Massachusetts,” (http://bit.ly/VqYM0U) describing the schools’ mission and values, enrollment trends, and tuition crisis.

Thousands of $$$ in New Taxes for Middle-Class Workers by Josh Archambault Publish Date: October 5, 2012 Impact of the Federal Health Law’s “Cadillac Insurance Tax” in Massachusetts Thousands of $$$ in New Taxes for Middle-Class Workers by Josh Archambault Conventional wisdom is that healthcare in Massachusetts will not change significantly under the federal Patient […]

http://www.educationnews.org/education-policy-and-politics/panel-convenes-to-discuss-common-core-in-utah/ A panel was convened at Utah’s Salt Lake Community College Miller Campus to discuss the downsides of adopting the Common Core State Standards this week. The Standards, which are a set of benchmarks in mathematics and English, were developed over the last two years. Although the adoption of the Common Core is entirely voluntary, […]

http://commonhealth.wbur.org/2012/07/mass-health-reform-as-pig-in-a-poke I had to look up this expression to make sure I was using it correctly, but yes, indeed, the opinion piece in the Boston Herald today from The Pioneer Institute’s Josh Archambault argues that the legislature is buying a pig in a poke when it comes to the cost-cutting health reform measures soon up […]

http://www.heraldnews.com/newsnow/x736421379/GUEST-OPINION-Dont-buy-new-content-light-Mass-ICCR-standards?zc_p=1 The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education’s 2008 Task Force on 21st Century Skills called for refocusing public school curricula on fuzzy concepts like “cultural competence” and “global awareness.” But Massachusetts citizens were less than excited about trading in the success that flowed from the commonwealth’s liberal arts-rich academic standards. Four years later, […]

http://boston.com/community/blogs/rock_the_schoolhouse/2012/07/are_teachers_changing_their_un.html The recent deal brokered by Stand for Children with the Massachusetts Teachers Association (and at the end supported by the AFL-CIO and the Massachusetts chapter of the American Federation for Teachers) made some progress in making student performance a larger consideration in evaluating teachers and lessened the role of seniority. The Globe editorial board […]

http://www.governing.com/blogs/politics/gov-massachusetts-tackles-health-care-reform-again.html Now that the Supreme Court has closed the book on the first phase of health-care reform with its decision to uphold President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), Massachusetts is poised to kick off phase 2 — and like the first time, this could have implications for other states. Before the Massachusetts […]

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865558845/Full-house-hears-panels-criticisms-of-Common-Core.html SANDY — Concerned residents filled the auditorium of the Salt Lake Community College Miller Campus Tuesday for a panel discussion on the failures of the Common Core State Standards. The standards are a set of achievement benchmarks in mathematics and English language arts that were developed by states and are voluntarily adopted. Utah has […]

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2012/0710/Health-care-reform-How-has-the-individual-mandate-worked-in-Massachusetts There was a moment some 5-1/2 years ago when Peter Kastner looked at his monthly health-insurance bills and wondered whether breaking the law might make more sense. He and his wife were using a high-deductible plan with a $400 monthly premium, but it didn’t comply with the landmark 2006 law that transformed health insurance […]

Published in CommonWealth Magazine Boston cardinal seán o’malley condemns the Obama administration’s requirement that all employers, even religious ones, offer insurance covering the cost of birth control, even after the president backtracked and offered a compromise. “It is important that Catholics not be deceived into thinking that this issue is simply another battle in the […]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/07/09/obamacare-more-taxing-than-romneycare-two-laws-differences-debated/ President Obama’s camp chafes at the notion the health care law’s individual insurance mandate packs the threat of a tax. One way Democrats have been responding to to such criticisms is to point the finger at Mitt Romney and the health care law he signed as governor of Massachusetts. “Let’s get down to the […]

Future archeologists who stumble upon the annals of local government, circa 2012, may find this era remarkable for the things we tried to get rid of: enormous sodas, small plastic water bottles, public swearing, fatty food, loud leaf blowers. Chelsea, Lynn, and Brookline have joined Cambridge and made the news, with the coverage sometimes favorable […]

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2012/07/07/hollywood_arrives_in_small_massachusetts_towns_cash_in_hand_and_stars_on_location/?page=2 When the state started doling out tax breaks to attract big-name films in 2006, it seemed natural that Boston would take a star turn in the flurry of movies that followed, including “The Town” and “Gone Baby Gone.” The city has the cachet, dramatic locations, and technical talent needed to support such large productions. […]

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2012/07/06/boston-neighborhood-borders-crowdsource/ For a select group of Boston residents, there’s nothing more important than their neighborhood and its identity. And there are many places, where you are absolutely, positively in a specific neighborhood — Broadway in South Boston, Blue Hill Ave in Mattapan Square, Adams Park in Roslindale. But head out from those places and you […]